Lawmakers say no thanks to governor's rewrites

Gov. Rod Blagojevich returned to his old legislating days in a way this summer through his “Rewrite to Do Right” campaign. State lawmakers mostly said thanks, but no thanks to his rewrite work.

Ryan Keith

Gov. Rod Blagojevich returned to his old legislating days in a way this summer through his “Rewrite to Do Right” campaign. State lawmakers mostly said thanks, but no thanks to his rewrite work.

Of more than 25 bills the governor used his amendatory veto pen on, lawmakers voted to override his changes on 14 of them. Several other bills died or will soon die because legislators didn’t act on them, dooming both the original measure and the governor’s changes.

Lawmakers say their revolt is more about turning back the governor’s bid to legislate from the executive branch than rejecting autism coverage or food allergy policies in schools.

“It shows that the General Assembly collectively has come to its senses regarding our duty under the constitution,” said Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie. “If we allow the governor to play our role, then what are we doing? Why are we there?”

The administration counters that lawmakers are turning down valuable ideas out of spite.

“We can’t figure out why the General Assembly wouldn’t want to see some of these things we tried to do with ‘Rewrite’ done,” Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said. “They don’t want to give credit to the governor for coming up with it.”

Blagojevich took changing legislation to a new level this summer with “Rewrite,” his effort to improve bills lawmakers sent him. In many cases, though, what he put in the bills went much further than the original measure.

The most obvious example is on ethics reform.

Lawmakers approved a ban on political donations from large-dollar state contractors, but the governor expanded it to apply to legislators and then threw in other restrictions on legislators. They responded by overriding his changes, although the Senate last week approved his ideas in a separate bill.

The governor has pushed language requiring insurance coverage for autism disorders three times. He’s also greatly expanded hospital discounts for uninsured patients and required schools to develop policies for students with severe food allergies – all with no success.

Lawmakers have approved a few of his ideas, including allowing children up to 26 years old to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans. Other approved changes were non-controversial.

On some of the rejected measures, legislators say they simply disagree with what the governor wants to do. For example, he took House Bill 4527, which expanded grants to libraries, and proposed that libraries receiving state grants stay open until 9 p.m. at least four days a week.

Lang, who sponsored the measure, said it made no sense to put a greater fiscal burden on libraries already in need of more money and force school libraries to stay open way beyond school hours.

“It is over the top and wrong,” Lang said. “It was a ridiculous veto.”

But in other areas, legislators say they want to work through the full legislative process on providing autism coverage, or developing food allergy policies for schools.

Still, they expect more “rewriting” from Blagojevich’s people rather than a new approach – just like they’ve seen with budget cuts and other issues the last two years.

“They’re not predictable, and they’re always looking to change the program,” said Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Clare.

That’s a good hunch. Guerrero said the governor wants to work with lawmakers on these issues but will pursue other ways to accomplish them if that doesn’t happen.

“He’ll keep pushing and prodding. He’s not one to take ‘no’ for an answer. He likes to buck the system,” Guerrero said.